


Ash

by Inkandquills, writersstudy



Series: Inktober 2019 [13]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Burns, Fire, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Illness, M/M, Mentions of Violence, Shownu/everyone, everyone dies, except him, in the first chap, in the second chap, jooheon gets very hurt, their house burns down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-14 23:13:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21023807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkandquills/pseuds/Inkandquills, https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersstudy/pseuds/writersstudy
Summary: Inktober 2019, Day Thirteen!Prompt: AshGroup: Monsta XPairing: Jooheon/ShownuA: Hyunwoo hears the call and his heart drops out of his chest.M: Hyunwoo had been doomed to spend life after life full of love and loss.[[PLEASE NOTE THAT WE, THE AUTHORS, HAVE NOT GIVEN PERMISSION FOR THIS WORK TO BE RE-POSTED ANYWHERE EXCEPT DIRECTLY ON AO3. IF YOU SEE THIS WORK ANYWHERE ELSE, PLEASE REPORT IT FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND NOTIFY US AT LIVING.LENIENTLY@GMAIL.COM. THANK YOU.]]





	1. Ashlee

“MXD to Ladder 1, Tanker 4, Engine 16, Rescue 87, standby for dispatch, 13 Flour Lane, the Lee residence, for a fully involved structure fire.” The alarms blared loudly throughout the station and Hyunwoo felt his heart drop to his feet. He was out the door ahead of anyone else, tugging on his bunker gear and climbing into the driver’s seat of the tanker engine. As soon as the rest of his crew was in and the doors had slammed, he was off and running, lights flashing and siren wailing loudly. 

When they reached the scene of the fire, it was obvious that it had been blazing for some time. Hyunwoo lowered the jacks on the truck and hopped out of the driver’s seat, flipping switches on the pump panel while the rest of his crew connected the hoses. He barked orders, telling his guys to mask up and get inside.

“Hyunwoo hyung!” He turned around when he heard his name and saw Minhyuk rushing toward him.

“Are you okay?” he asked, gripping the younger man by the arm and scanning him for injuries. Minhyuk ignored his question.

“Jooheon’s still inside,” he said, eyes wide with fear, “we couldn’t get to his room.” As if on cue, there was a shattering of glass and a massive uproar in the fire.

“Get to that room!” Hyunwoo shouted, pointing at the shattered window, before turning back to Minhyuk. He guided the younger man over to the ambulance, where their other two housemates, Kihyun and Hyungwon, were huddled underneath blankets, both sporting oxygen masks. He passed Minhyuk off to the paramedics before grabbing the radio on his chest and calling for more ambulances and support from their neighboring districts. 

“What happened?” he asked once dispatch had confirmed.

“We ran the stove today,” Kihyun said, pulling his mask down with a few coughs, “the chimney was just cleaned last week, but I guess there was still a bunch of stuff in there. We didn’t even notice it was burning until Hyungwon went outside and saw it and by that time, it had gotten into the eaves. It went from nothing burning to everything on fire in seconds.” Hyunwoo turned when he heard shouting behind him and saw one of his guys carrying a limp body over his shoulder.

“Go with the paramedics to the hospital,” he said, already halfway across the yard, “I’ll update you later!” There were already paramedics gathered around Jooheon’s body on the ground, rolling him onto a backboard and wrapping him in a neck brace.

“What happened?” Hyunwoo asked as he reached the group.

“We found him in an upstairs bedroom pinned under a beam,” Hoseok, his deputy chief, explained, “no sign of the cats, I assume they escaped when he broke the window. Hyunwoo, you should really go with him.”

“And do what?” Hyunwoo demanded, “sit in the hallway while his house burns to the ground? I have a job to do, Hoseok.” The younger man raised his hands in surrender and left Hyunwoo to talk to the paramedics. He gave them all the information he could about Jooheon’s health as he jogged alongside the gurney over to the ambulance. 

“Please, if anything changes, you have my phone number,” he said, grabbing one of the EMTs by the arm.

“We’ll let you know, Chief,” she promised before climbing in the back of the vehicle as it went wailing down the road. The other ambulance with Jooheon’s housemates followed not long after.

Hours later, they had finally knocked the blaze down to just a few smoldering beams among the rubble. Hyunwoo took his helmet off, wiping sweat off of his head. His bunker coat had long since been abandoned over the door of the tanker engine. Sliding open a side compartment on the truck, he grabbed two water bottles. He poured the first over his head and chugged the second like a man dying. 

“Chief Son,” the fire marshal greeted, coming over and shaking Hyunwoo’s hand, “have you heard anything about the victim pulled from the bedroom?” Hyunwoo shook his head.

“Not in a few hours,” he said, “last I knew, he was in critical condition and being transferred to the specialty burn unit downstate. I’m going to make the trip down there once we clean up here.”

“That could take hours,” Hoseok argued, popping up beside Hyunwoo, “you should just go now. We can handle things from here.” Hyunwoo wanted to argue, but the need he’d been ignoring, to make sure Jooheon was safe, had him agreeing instead. 

“There were two cats in the house, Yoshi and Gucci,” he said as he stood up, “I haven’t seen either of them yet, but please let me know if you find them, in any state.” Hoseok nodded, pressing the keys to the chief’s car into his hand and clapping him on the shoulder.

Hyunwoo drove back to the station as quickly as he could to shower and switch to his personal vehicle. The burn unit was a good couple of hours away, so he grabbed a little food before hitting the road. At this point, there was nothing he’d be able to do for Jooheon except wait, so he’d might as well take care of himself.

By the time he reached the hospital, it was nearing midnight. Rubbing his eyes, he stumbled into the reception area, mumbling Jooheon’s name to the nurse behind the desk. She directed him down the hall to the elevator and up to the fifth floor. Jooheon was in room 514 and Hyunwoo’s heart broke when he saw him. The younger man was covered head to toe in bandages with tubes and wires sticking out of any space that was uncovered. He quietly let himself into the room and sat in the chair next to the bed. 

Hyunwoo knew it wasn’t his fault that Jooheon had gotten hurt. He hadn’t trapped his boyfriend in the bedroom, and his crew had done everything they could to get him out as quickly and safely as possible. All he could hope now was that Jooheon managed to recover.

A groan came from the bed and Jooheon’s eyes cracked open. He looked around blearily until his eyes settled on Hyunwoo.

“Hi, baby,” the older man said softly, gently taking hold of his boyfriend’s uninjured hand. Tears gathered in Jooheon’s eyes and Hyunwoo assumed the pain was catching up to him, so he leaned over to page a nurse.

“Minhyuk, Kihyun, and Hyungwon are all okay,” he continued softly, “and Hoseok is looking for Yoshi and Gucci now. We know that they got out safely, but they’re still hiding somewhere.” Jooheon’s eyes closed and he nodded imperceptibly. The door opened and a nurse entered with a cart and some tools. She took his vitals and switched out the bag attached to his IV with a fresh one. 

“The burns actually aren’t as severe as we initially thought,” he said, primarily addressing Hyunwoo, “the worst ones are across his back where the beam had him pinned. Most of the rest are just surface burns, but we’re keeping them covered for the time being to try and treat them quickly. Depending on how quickly his back heals, we’re looking at two to three weeks to discharge and likely some outpatient therapy after that.” Hyunwoo thanked her and she left the room, taking her cart with her. He squeezed Jooheon’s hand gently.

“Get some sleep, baby,” he said, “I’ll be here.”

Hyunwoo ended up using all of his accumulated time off, plus some of Hoseok’s, to be able to spend all of his time at the hospital with Jooheon. The burns on his face and neck healed quickly with little to no scarring, as did most of his front. There were some discolored or scarred spots on his chest and abdomen, but most of the damage there had been from heat, not direct contact with the flames. It was fortunate, really, that Jooheon had been asleep without a shirt on, or the damage would have been much worse. 

Jooheon’s left hand had taken quite a bit of damage from trying to push the beam off of himself. He was required to wear a compression glove, even after he was discharged, and attended therapy appointments to help regain function in his hand. 

The worst, of course, was his back. The nurses had trained Hyunwoo extensively in how to properly clean and dress the large burn stretching across the middle of his back. Jooheon was relegated to sponge baths only for the time being, until the wound could be left uncovered.

He was living with Hyunwoo now. His other housemates had found an apartment together temporarily, but Hyunwoo had put his foot down. Jooheon needed so much assistance and Hyunwoo himself was made nervous at the idea of not having his boyfriend nearby. 

They were in bed now, Jooheon fast asleep on his stomach with the cats next to him. Hoseok had managed to find them hiding in a tree the day after the fire and had taken care of them while Jooheon was in the hospital. He was clearly very glad to have his babies back with him and they hadn’t left him alone either. Hyunwoo was heading back to work the next day and he was glad that Jooheon wouldn’t be entirely alone.

“Baby,” Hyunwoo called softly, hand combing through Jooheon’s hair. The younger man hummed, cracking his eyes open. His hand came up and threaded together with Hyunwoo’s.

“Love you,” he murmured before falling right back asleep.


	2. Michelle

Hyunwoo was a mysterious man. A man of few words. To most who met him, Hyunwoo was known simply as a traveler but he was so much more than that. Hyunwoo was not like any mortal traveler for he was no mortal at all. He had been cursed to live in this world for the rest of eternity. Not because of anything he had done. No, no, Hyunwoo’s curse was the result of a thousand year old punishment brought upon him by his ancestors. It was not as glorious as it sounded though, a life of immortality. Hyunwoo was forced to live a shortened life and be reborn again and again for the rest of eternity. For many years ago, Hyunwoo’s ancestors were at war with the powerful Song family. There was much bloodshed and many lives were lost, but the turning point of the war was when Hyunwoo’s father struck down the heart of the Song family’s values and traditions: their phoenix. The fiery bird fell one final time not to the flame, but to a sword, and was never to rise again from the ashes. In a fit of rage, the Song family nearly wiped out Hyunwoo’s entire family. They only spared him and his mother, only to make her watch her only son be cursed to a life of dying and being reborn in the place of the phoenix that no longer lived. Hyunwoo was a child when the war occured. He did not learn of the curse until his mother was on her deathbed and explained everything to him. She was the first person he lost but she most certainly would not be the last. That was the worst part of the curse. Not living over and over again but losing close relationships again and again. Hyunwoo tried desperately to keep traveling, never stay in one place for too long, lest he become attached to someone he would inevitably lose in a few years, but one too many times he had found himself stuck. It was just another wicked aspect of the curse that took him away from the people he cared about most.

Hyunwoo met Kihyun in one of his first few lives. The younger man was bright, funny, and albeit a bit more snarky that Hyunwoo could have ever predicted. But the two men got along like no others. When Hyunwoo was with Kihyun, he could almost forget he was cursed to leave him behind. Hyunwoo had never expected to find love, not like this at least, but he did. Kihyun was simply perfect. He would always crack the funniest to cheer Hyunwoo up when he was having a bad day, he would take them stargazing long after the rest of the village had gone to bed, and sometimes he would simply show Hyunwoo how much he loved him in the comfort of their own home. It was impossible for Hyunwoo not to fall in love with Kihyun. Everything about their relationship was absolutely perfect. And while they had talked about it, Hyunwoo still wasn’t prepared for when they had children. He wasn’t ever expecting to get his own beautiful family but Kihyun had given him that. And for ten perfect years, Hyunwoo was as perfect of a father as he could be. But fate had a cruel and twisted way of working. Much sooner than he would like, he was pulled away from his family and thrown into another life. He wasn’t even able to tell Kihyun he loved him one last time. 

Hyunwoo vowed to himself he would never fall in love with anyone again. And eventually that promise ran out. The moment Hyunwoo met Hyungwon, he knew he was sunk. The slender man was much less adventurous than Kihyun but still never failed to shower Hyunwoo in all the love he deserved. And while the older man had slipped and allowed himself to fall in love again, he would never slip and have children ever again. He never brought it up, and thankfully neither did Hyungwon. That gave them more time together and more time for Hyunwoo to fall absolutely head over heels for Hyungwon and his calm gentle nature. In the back of his head, Hyunwoo knew he would eventually be ripped away from Hyungwon’s comforting grasp, but he didn’t want to think of that too soon. He didn’t have time to when Hyungwon’s health began to deteriorate. It started with Hyungwon being even more tired than usual, Hyunwoo even teased him about it. But then everything continued to get worse. Hyungwon wouldn’t even have the energy to get out of bed some days and the days he did he was too weak to even lift a spoon to his lips. Hyunwoo became Hyungwon’s caretaker, making sure the younger man had everything he needed. He contacted every doctor within the town, and even some beyond, but none of them could help Hyungwon. No medications, herbal remedies, or even rest seemed to help. All Hyunwoo could do was watch the younger man slowly but surely fade away. Hyunwoo hadn’t been prepared to watch Hyungwon take his last breath, he expected to be ripped away from the younger man when it hurt most, but this time it happened the other way around. 

Hyunwoo wasn’t looking for love when he met Changkyun. But it seemed like the younger boy had different plans for both of them. Hyunwoo was simply looking for someone to spend time with, a companion that would help him tackle the boring repetitiveness of this life, and he got so much more. Hyunwoo wasn’t sure why he was so intrigued by Changkyun but he slowly found himself sucked in by the younger man. Changkyun was more adventurous than Hyungwon and much less level headed than Kihyun. His chaotic nature shown through most brightly when he brought home a stray puppy with no warning one day. The younger boy had worn the biggest pout and how could Hyunwoo have said no to that? The last thing Hyunwoo had expected to find himself taking care of was a puppy but here he was. The puppy grew up quickly but never seemed to quite get her legs. She was a little awkward but that didn’t stop her from loving them unconditionally. She matched Changkyun’s personality perfectly and more often than not, Hyunwoo spent his nights laying in bed, squashed beneath Changkyun and their puppy getting plenty of kisses from both of them. This time however, no matter how hard Hyunwoo tried to forget, he knew he was going to get torn away from his new family. As much as he mentally prepared himself, it was still agonising to lose yet another person in his life that he had grown so attached to.

Perhaps the shortest time Hyunwoo had spent with someone was his time with Minhyuk. But it was also one of his most painful lifetimes. Minhyuk was a ruffian. It was a risky business and he put his life on the line every time he went out but somehow he always managed to come home. Hyunwoo would worry endlessly about Minhyuk and when the younger man made it home at night, he would wrap around him and not let go until the sun began to rise. One night Minhyuk came home with a deep gash in his shoulder and a bruise blooming on his cheek. Hyunwoo had fussed over him, making sure he spent the next couple of days at home so he could make sure the wound didn’t get infected. Thankfully Minhyuk made a full recovery, but that didn’t stop him from rejoining his friends a few days later. Hyunwoo thought losing Minhyuk was going to be easier, with how dangerous his job was, but that was not the case. One night Minhyuk was later than he usually was. Hyunwoo tried not to worry. He tried to stay home and wait patiently for the younger boy like he had promised to, but eventually he couldn’t do that. He rushed through the streets, screaming Minhyuk’s name. But there was no answer. Hyunwoo rounded the corner of an alley and nothing could have prepared him to find Minhyuk’s body lying in the shadows surrounded by a pool of his own blood. It wasn’t the first time Hyunwoo had cried after losing someone and he knew deep down that it wasn’t going to be the last. This curse hadn’t prepared him to lose people like this but even after all these years of loss, Hyunwoo still wasn’t prepared to lose people at all. 

Hyunwoo was beaten and down when he met Hoseok. The younger man was so gentle with him and so understand that Hyunwoo couldn’t help but give him a chance. He decided to be upfront this time. Before they got involved with anything, Hyunwoo warned Hoseok of the curse. That he could be ripped away at any moment and that he didn’t want to lose Hoseok like that. Hoseok, being the angel he was, ignored the warnings and promised that he didn’t care how short their time together was. And that was where the curse took another twisted turn. The longest Hyunwoo had spent with someone at this point was the mere ten years he had had with Kihyun and their children, until now. With Hoseok, gentle, sweet Hoseok, Hyunwoo found himself wondering if the curse even still plagued him. Ten years, then twenty, even thirty years passed and Hyunwoo was still happily together with Hoseok. He had never expected the curse to allow them to stay together this long and the older man took advantage of each day they had together. He and Hoseok grew old and gray together, the only difference being that after Hyunwoo died, he would be born again to live another lifetime of love and suffering. They spent their last moments together and Hoseok was the first person Hyunwoo was able to give a proper goodbye to. 

Hyunwoo had grown tired of these repeated lives. He wanted nothing more than for his death to permanently take him, but he knew he would never be so lucky. Jooheon had come into his life unexpectedly. Despite Hyunwoo knowing he was bound to find someone, he was never expecting the dark haired boy with a temper to rival anyone to be the next one to sucker him in. He didn’t dare warn Jooheon about the curse, knowing the boy would threaten to fight the deities that had given it to him and ended up receiving his own curse as punishment. Instead, Hyunwoo helped Jooheon take out his anger in a much more productive manner. And now Hyunwoo found himself lying in bed, with a sleepy Jooheon curled into his side. The boy always kept Hyunwoo on his toes, and despite how frustrating he could be at times, Hyunwoo never let himself be upset for long. Hyunwoo didn’t know how many more lifetimes he would have to live through but for now, he didn’t want to think of that. Instead, he just wanted to hold Jooheon and hope that they would have one more night together. And hopefully many more. 


End file.
